Columns - Marblehead Current

26 Nov

ASK LIZZIE: Thanksgiving with kids: What helps us all enjoy the day (not just survive it)

LIzzie AssaColumns

You’ve packed the car like a game of Tetris, driven three hours with a 2, 5 and 7-year- old, and just pulled intothe driveway of extended family you see a few times a year. The kids tumble out of their car seats, tired, overstimulated and already running hot, and before you’ve even taken your coat off, half a dozen adults are trying to hug them, ask questions and pull them into the chaos. You haven’t even had a bite of cheese, and your nervous system…

26 Nov

GUEST COLUMN: Town Meeting warrant is open; what you need to know

Jack AttridgeColumns, Local News

As Marblehead’s Town Moderator, I want to take this opportunity to update residents on an important milestone in our annual civic calendar. Last week, the Select Board officially opened the warrant for our 2026 Town Meeting. The warrant is now open for resident submissions until noon on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, and for municipal submissions until noon on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Town Meeting itself is scheduled for Monday, May 4, 2026, at 7 p.m. While the Select Board has not yet formally announced the…

19 Nov

MONEY MATTERS: Giving with purpose: How to make the most of your charitable donations

Emily PromiseColumns

As we approach the holiday season, many of us start thinking about ways to give back, both to the people we care about and to the causes that matter most to us. Charitable giving is one of the most rewarding parts of financial planning. Not only can it make a real difference in your community, but it can also be an important part of your overall financial strategy. Emily Promise: Money Matters columnist Whether you’re giving a few hundred dollars or creating a legacy gift…

19 Nov

GIFT OF LIFE: A big ask, a big impact

Christine McCarristonColumns

I recently had a big ask for my family and friends. Not the usual lending of money or a ride to the airport. No, I asked for blood. Blood donations that is. I currently am under treatment that causes me to need blood transfusions every other week — except when I need them three weeks in a row. So, I wanted to host a blood drive to give back. Only I wasn’t doing the giving exactly, it was my friends and family that would need…

12 Nov

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Nature calls, but why?

Virginia BuckinghamColumns, Opinion

Dear readers, I have a friend who calls himself a “rugged indoorsman” and with his professorial air, owl-rimmed glasses and a passion for indoor racquet sports, the label fits. Minus the “rugged” part, I can relate. No one would mistake me for a woman who relishes the great outdoors, unless it involves a seat in a sunny corner of a patio, a book and a glass of wine. I can’t explain why but for the last few weeks I have felt a need, no even…

05 Nov

The Select Board — so many musings, so little space

James (Seamus) HourihanColumns

Select Board finally posts goals, but goal posts and goal line are undefined In my Aug. 27 column, “If you don’t know where you are going, any path will take you there” I asked the question whether our School Committee and Select Board, our two “executive” bodies, have strategic initiatives aligned with real critical issues facing the town. Do they have specific measurable goals for these initiatives? Do they have schedules? From my perspective, the answer for the School Committee was no. For the Select…

05 Nov

FOOD 101: Who reads cookbooks?

Linda BassettColumns, Food, Linda Bassett

Who reads cookbooks? Who buys them? Who are they written for? The first acknowledged cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, was authored by Apicius during the Roman Empire. Discovered among musty manuscripts during the Renaissance, it is more a memoir of elite parties in Imperial Rome, more suggestion than instruction. Who reads cookbooks? CURRENT PHOTO / LINDA BASSETT In the following centuries, cookbooks guided heads of large kitchens who oversaw a staff of cooks in a castle or a manor. (Home cooks learned by rote from mothers…

29 Oct

Decoding everyday tech: Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth and other terms explained

Stephen BachColumns, Opinion, Stephen Bach

We hear tech terms like Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth and “the cloud” every day, but many people still don’t know exactly what they mean. And that’s okay — no one is born understanding this stuff. (Especially those of us born before the 1960s!) The good news is, once you strip away the jargon, most of it is pretty simple. Here’s a quick guide to a few common terms that pop up in everyday tech conversations, explained in plain English. Let’s start with Wi‑Fi. It’s what lets your…

29 Oct

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY: A Swiftie at 60

Virginia BuckinghamColumns, Opinion

I am way late to this party, but better late than never. Before you stop reading because you’re not interested in Taylor Swift, her music, her engagement, her friendship bracelets, hear me out. I wasn’t either. But there’s a reason to tune in to her now. In an era when despair, distrust and disgust are the primary emotions animating many people’s days, she offers this: Agency, optimism and resilience. No one is more surprised than me to find her the subject of this column. In…

29 Oct

Decoding everyday tech: Wi‐Fi, bluetooth, and other terms explained

Stephen BachColumns, Stephen Bach

We hear tech terms like Wi‐Fi, bluetooth and “the cloud” every day, but many people still don’t know exactly what they mean. And that’s okay — no one is born understanding this stuff. (Especially those of us born before the 1960s!) The good news is, once you strip away the jargon, most of it is pretty simple. Here’s a quick guide to a few common terms that pop up in everyday tech conversations, explained in plain English. Let’s start with Wi‐Fi. It’s what lets your…